AD Chapter 31
The next day, coming to the set covered in hickeys became a routine for Chu Zichen. He didn’t care about the gazes directed at him. In fact, sometimes when the hickeys weren’t very visible, he would deliberately open his collar, exposing them proudly for everyone to see.
Su Ning watched his recent actions, unsure how to advise Chu Zichen, whose behavior seemed to be getting more and more erratic.
He knew Gu Lingfeng, the man who didn’t like leaving hickeys on anyone's body. In fact, the first time Su Ning had sent Chu Zichen to meet Gu Lingfeng, there had been no such marks on his body.
Therefore, the hickeys on his neck were clearly intentional on Chu Zichen’s part. Perhaps he had coquettishly begged Gu Lingfeng to leave them, with the sole purpose of flaunting them to himself and to others.
Su Ning shook his head internally. Sometimes, he really couldn't understand Chu Zichen's thought process. As the makeup artist had said, showing off his connection to Gu Lingfeng, his rich and powerful patron, might make sense. But showcasing their sexual encounters? He couldn’t see the point of such a display.
If Chu Zichen's goal was to make Su Ning jealous, he didn’t know whether he should feel flattered or insulted.
Gu Lingfeng had so many lovers that one could hardly count them. Who could possibly feel jealous? And who had the right to be jealous?
Su Ning knew exactly where he stood. So, as he watched Chu Zichen’s recent behavior, he felt not the slightest bit of jealousy. Instead, he felt pity, and a little amusement at the absurdity of it all.
Pity, because Chu Zichen was too unaware of his own foolishness; amusing, because it was clear he had no clue just how ridiculous he looked.
The crew started looking at Chu Zichen like he was crazy, which also led to Su Ning getting a lot of odd stares. Everyone knew that Chu Zichen didn’t like Su Ning, but every time Chu Zichen asked for leave, Su Ning would be the one picking him up the next day.
Only Fan Xin knew the true nature of Su Ning’s relationship with Gu Lingfeng. A small number of people, like the director, only knew that Su Ning had originally been Gu Lingfeng's personal assistant and had temporarily been reassigned to work for Chu Zichen.
To the latter, it seemed like Gu Lingfeng was indulging his little lover by letting him use his assistant. To most others, however, Su Ning was just Chu Zichen’s assistant. His unreasonably harsh treatment of Su Ning was baffling, but his trust in him was also confusing. Some even speculated if there was some hidden, unspoken secret between them.
In a sense, their speculations weren’t completely off.
Because Chu Zichen often acted like a diva and treated others poorly, Su Ning—who bore the brunt of his anger—was paradoxically more accepted by the rest of the crew. Of course, Su Ning’s own good-natured personality, his refusal to gossip behind others’ backs, his kindness, and his frequent help with the crew, all contributed to the positive impression others had of him.
Despite being constantly ordered around by Chu Zichen, even when Chu Zichen made trouble for him, Su Ning still found moments to help out. He would stay at the set instead of resting, helping move props or grab things for others. This made the crew like him even more.
One of the things Su Ning often did was assist the photographer with lighting. After a few attempts, he became quite adept at it, almost as if he were a professional lighting technician. The photographer, Brother Zhou, joked with him.
“You shouldn’t be an assistant anymore. Why don’t you work as my photography assistant instead? The pay isn’t worse than being an artist’s assistant, and if you work hard and learn well, you could even become a photographer yourself. That’s better than being a lifelong assistant, right?”
Su Ning smiled in gratitude and said shyly, “Thank you, Brother Zhou. I really enjoy photography, but my dream isn’t to become a photographer.”
“Oh? Then what do you want to do?”
Su Ning smiled again, a bit bashful, “I just want to open my own little shop and be my own boss. Sit and count money all day.”
Brother Zhou laughed heartily, slapping Su Ning on the shoulder. “That’s a great dream! Who wouldn’t want to be their own boss? Keep it up. I support you!”
Su Ning smiled, “Mm, I’ll work hard for it.”
Every day, he would count his savings, calculating how much more he needed to reach his goal. It wouldn’t take long before his dream could become a reality. This was also one of the reasons he endured so much from Chu Zichen. After all, fulfilling Gu Lingfeng’s instructions was the key to filling his small savings account.
He could afford to offend Chu Zichen, but he couldn’t afford to offend the god of wealth.
After helping Brother Zhou with the lighting, Su Ning saw that Chu Zichen’s scene had finished. He quickly excused himself from Brother Zhou and ran over.
The shoot hadn’t gone smoothly, and Chu Zichen had been NG'd several times by the director, which left him frustrated. When he saw Su Ning running over, he immediately took out all his anger on him.
“Where the hell have you been? Do you even remember who you’re assisting? You love working for others so much, why don’t you just go work for someone else? What are you still doing here as an assistant? I think you’re just born to be a servant, always happy to serve others. Well then, go ahead, clean this floor for me.”
As Chu Zichen spoke, he tipped the bottle of water he was holding, spilling it all over the floor. He pointed the bottle at Su Ning and shouted, “Clean it up! Clean it up for me! I saw you working happily as the janitor before. Now, I’m giving you the chance to clean the floor. What’s wrong? Not willing to do it now?”
Su Ning stood still for a moment, and then Chu Zichen, still unsatisfied, moved closer and pulled on Su Ning. He threw a towel at Su Ning’s feet and demanded he kneel down and clean the water.
The people around couldn’t bear to watch, and Fan Xin’s face turned pale with rage, rolling up her sleeves as though ready to charge over.
At that moment, Su Ning suddenly squatted down, grabbing the towel and slowly starting to wipe the water from the floor, his face expressionless.
Chu Zichen, however, was still dissatisfied. Perhaps because Su Ning’s expression remained so calm, showing no signs of being humiliated, he didn’t get the sense of accomplishment he was hoping for.
He looked around and spotted a leftover bowl of instant noodles that had been left unthrown. With malicious intent, Chu Zichen smirked and picked up the bowl, tossing it right in front of Su Ning. The leftover noodles and greasy soup spilled everywhere, staining the floor and splashing onto Su Ning’s pants.
Chu Zichen arrogantly lifted his chin, looking down at Su Ning, who was still squatting on the ground, and said, “Clean it up! Don’t stand up until it’s spotless."
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